The One Person
by iloveromance
Summary: Unable to cope with the grief of losing Sandy, Carol feels lost and alone with no one to talk to. But she realizes that the person she least expected is the person she needs the most. A continuation of the very emotional episode "Second Chances", which guest starred Matthew Perry.
1. Chapter 1

She stared out of her bedroom window, hoping, dreaming that she'd see him walking down the sidewalk toward her house; a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Her boyfriend, the boy she loved more than any other. The boy she would never see again.

She bit back a sob, but it was too late and soon she was sobbing uncontrollably. Oh God, would it ever stop? Would the pain ever go away? Would she ever stop hurting?

Her chest ached and it was hard to breathe. Why was this happening? She needed to talk to someone, badly. She couldn't go on like this.

She brushed the tears from her cheeks and hurried down the stairs. When she reached the office by the front door she called to him.

"Dad? Dad?"

When there was no answer, she peeked inside. But her heart sank when she found the office empty. Her dad was always working, so where was he? Psychiatrists worked all of the time! What about their patients who needed them? More importantly, what about Jason Seaver's daughter, who needed him now more than ever?

She bit back another sob, grateful that her second attempt to do so was successful. She was tired of crying; so tired, but it seemed that crying was all that she did lately.

What would Sandy think of her? Oh how she wished she knew. If only she could kiss him, just one last time.

And then another thought. Of course… Her mom! Why didn't she think of that before? Her mom was, of course, a woman. She'd dated boys (Before she met Dad of course), and Carol knew that she'd understand. She hesitated only a moment before she knew where to look.

The kitchen….

Carol darted through the living room into the kitchen. "Mom, can I talk to you? I-."

But the kitchen was empty, making her heart sink. Where was everybody?

Tears spilled onto her cheeks, but she quickly brushed them away. Some parents! Why had they deserted her, their oldest daughter, just when she needed them the most?

With a sigh she went upstairs and headed for her room. But then she paused at the first door on the right. Slowly she opened it and peered inside. Amazingly her little brother was there, oblivious to the world as he stared at his computer screen. A video game blared from the speakers and Ben madly pushed the controls in his hands as though he really and truly believed that he was driving a race car.

"KABLOOEY!" Ben yelled, causing Carol to gasp. On the screen was the aftermath of Ben's virtual car crash and it only took seconds to realize that he'd crashed his imaginary race car into a tree.


	2. Chapter 2

At once her body turned hot, as though someone had lit a match at her feet and the flames had travelled through her body to her head. And then she began to shiver. How was it possible to feel hot and cold at the same time?

The feeling soon passed, replaced with feelings of hopelessness and loneliness as she opened the door to her room and went inside. Her room was vastly different from that of her little brother's, with its cream colored walls, posters of cats and movie stars and the soft curtains that blew in the breeze when she opened the window.

If only Sandy could have seen her room.

On the floor, peeking out from underneath her bed, she saw it. Her body was trembling as she glanced at the faux blue and yellow leather bound yearbook, emblazoned with the words "Dewey High School" across the front. It took every ounce of strength that she had inside of her to reach down and pick it up. Slowly she opened the book and began to flip through the pages. But when she came to the page with his picture, the page she'd looked at a hundred times before, her heart clinched in her chest. Next to his picture, he'd written:

 _To Carol, a great person that I hope to get to know a LOT better; Love Sandy._

The tears began anew, but when they splashed onto the slick page, she gasped in horror. The yearbook picture was the only picture of him she had and the salt from her tears was sure to ruin it. She knew that she'd never forget his face, but even so….

It only took seconds to grab a Kleenex and gently blot the tears from the page. But that small, insignificant effort did little to soothe her broken heart.

Overcome with grief once more, Carol curled up on her bed and sobbed into her pillow. But it didn't help and in fact, only made her feel worse. How was she supposed to get through Sandy's death without someone to talk to? As it was, she had no one, absolutely no one.

In the room down the hall, she could hear Ben yelling in triumph. Most likely his stupid race car had won the race; a thought made even worse by the fact that virtual car crashes were just that; virtual and he'd come out of it unscathed. Unlike Sandy and his run-in with a tree, from which he would never return.

There was absolutely no one to talk to about how she felt. Was there no one at all who understood? Ben was much too young and as for her friends at school… They'd just tell her that losing Sandy was a sign. After all, they'd barely started dating and there were plenty of other guys at Dewey High School.

But Carol didn't want any other guys. She wanted Sandy.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, thanks for the ride, Boner! I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay? Bye!"

Carol's head snapped up at the sound of Mike's voice coming from downstairs. Boner must have dropped off her older brother from whatever stupid place they'd been to that night. Mike had obviously forgotten that he was grounded from using the car when their parents found out that he'd missed his curfew one too many times. It was so unfair that they grounded him from using the car but yet he could still go out with his friends as long as he got a ride.

The last time Carol was grounded, she couldn't go anywhere at all, even on the city bus! Clearly it was her father who had done the punishing. So much for equal rights for women.

She heard him coming up the stairs and the sound of thudding indicated that Mike had dropped his backpack on the floor in his room. As if on que the music began, blaring through the wall. She could just picture him standing in the middle of the carpeted floor, pretending to play the guitar as though he was the next Bruce Springsteen. She almost laughed. Ha! In his dreams! It would never happen. She couldn't wait to tell Sandy, for he was sure to find it as hilarious as she.

But then she remembered… and her heart clinched in her chest once more.

Oh God… why did simply thinking about him hurt so much? His dark hair, the way he kissed her; the way they'd kissed on her front porch and she found it so hard to stop? When she began to sob again, she realized that she simply couldn't go on like this. She had to talk to someone; anyone.

Without giving it another thought, she walked into the hallway. She could hear the music blaring from Mike's room. His door was closed, but she didn't care. She opened the door and walked right in. Sure enough, Mike was standing in the center of the room, doing a very bad impression of Bruce Springsteen. But she paid him no mind and walked over to his bed.

After pushing several items aside (how could he live in this dump of a room? No wonder he could never find his homework!), she sat down on his bed. The blue and yellow book, identical to the one she had in her room, beckoned to her. Slowly she reached for it, thumbing through the slick pages until she found the picture that she'd been staring at just moments before.

The music stopped abruptly and she looked up to see Mike frozen in place, staring at her. His hand was over his chest and he was breathing hard.

"Dang it, Carol, you scared me to death!" he yelled. "How many times have I told you to keep your stupid face out of my room?"

He'd said the words at least a hundred, quite possibly a million times before, but now they hurt more than she thought possible. For the first time in her life, she felt small and meek.

"I-I know. I-I just wanted to look at your yearbook." Her words were so soft, that she barely heard the words.

"Yeah? Well, go to your own room and look at your stupid yearbook, all right? I'm tired of you coming in here and-."  
The second she glanced at Sandy's picture, she began to sob once more. But this time, something happened. Mike was beside her in an instant, his warm hand on her back.


	4. Chapter 4

"Carol…"

She pulled away from him and began to pace the room. "Why did this have to happen, Mike? Sandy was a good person! I –I mean he never-. He'd just had a few drinks! And so did I! We were just fine! He was fine, just some bumps and bruises and a broken leg! He-he was laughing and happy and... Oh God, why does it hurt so much?"

"Carol…"

Mike was holding her now, preventing her from moving any more. And when she turned to look at him, his face was blurred by her tears. "It's' not fair!" She yelled. He deserved a second chance! Everyone gets them! I-."

"Shhh… It's okay, Carol. I'm so sorry." Mike said softly as he rubbed her back.

She clung to him, sobbing uncontrollably as she dampened his shirt with her tears. She was sure that he was going to push her away and yell at her for ruining his stupid shirt, but amazingly he didn't do anything. He just stood there, holding her while she cried.

"It's not fair!" She sobbed. "It's not fair! H-he was my boyfriend! And he said that I was his girlfriend!"

"I know. I know." He said, his soft voice soothing her. But when he sniffled, she relied that he was crying as well. But that was crazy… he barely knew Sandy.

"You're right. Sandy was a good person." Mike said. "It was easy to see how much he cared about you."

She broke free of her brother's embrace. "Then why did this have to happen, Mike? Why?"

"I-I don't know, Carol. I-I wish I could tell you, but I can't."

"I'll never find another boyfriend!"

"That's ridiculous. Of course you will. Just give it some time."

"I-I can't!"

"Carol, Sandy wouldn't want you to be alone. He'd want you to be happy and find someone new. But when you're ready. Don't rush into anything, okay? It's going to take time but you'll know when that time is. But don't let anyone tell you how you're feeling, because only you know that."

She bit her lip to hide her grin, an actual grin! "You sound just like Dad."

Mike put his hand on his forehead. "Oh God, I do, don't I? Well, I just meant-."

"Mike, I'm sorry." She blurted out.

"What are you talking about?"

"Th-that night, when we came home from the hospital and you told us that Doug had called about Sandy."

"Look, Carol, I know what you're going to say, and please… don't beat yourself up about this, all right?"

"I'm sorry that I didn't believe you, Mike. I'm really, really sorry. I just-."

"It's okay."

"I love you, Mike, all right? There, I said it! I know that I'm always saying that I hate you, but I don't, Mike. I really don't!"

Suddenly she felt him kiss her hair; something that had never, ever happened before. And then after a long pause, he spoke again.

"I love you too, Carol. And I know I don't always say it but it's true. If you ever want to talk… about Sandy or anything at all, I'm here for you."

"We're here too, Carol."

She looked up, as tears fell onto her cheeks. "Mom… Dad… And Ben."

The three of them entered the room and joined Mike and Carol in a hug. As a family the four of them cried over the loss of the boy who had changed all of their lives.

Never before had Carol felt so loved. And she believed… she truly believed that she was going to be all right.

Sandy would make sure of it.

 **THE END**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading and as always reviews are appreciated!**


End file.
